Young Adult book tour in Greenville Tuesday

Monday

Feb 11, 2013 at 6:38 PM

Penguin Young Readers Group for the “Breathless Reads” tour will be in Greenville at the Holland Park Church on Tuesday, Feb. 12.

By BART BISHOPBart.Bishop@shj.com

Beth Revis has been writing a book a year since she was in college. After 11 years and 11 books, she finally had her first publication in 2011 with the Young Adult science fiction novel “Across the Universe.” Two years later, she's finished the trilogy with “Shades of the Earth,” and for the third year in a row has been selected by the Penguin Young Readers Group for the “Breathless Reads” tour. The tour, which makes seven stops from Boston down to Miami, will be in Greenville at the Holland Park Church on Tuesday, Feb. 12. Revis, who claims she received 1,000 rejections before finally getting published, encourages teenagers to “read and write what you like.” Revis grew up in western North Carolina. As a child her favorite authors were C.S. Lewis and Madeleine L'Engle, but she cites her real inspirations as movies and television. “I wear my hair long because of Princess Leia,” outing herself as a “Star Wars” fanatic. She also loves “Dr. Who” and “Firefly,” the television show by Joss Whedon who last year wrote and directed “The Avengers.” In college, she encountered J.K. Rowling's “Harry Potter” for the first time. “A friend of mine and I kept saying we were only going to read Shakespeare,” she said. “Eventually, though, we found out we both wanted to read ‘Harry Potter'! At that point I decided I'm only going to read for fun, and it's been YA ever since.” YA is the vernacular for what has become an increasingly popular young adult line of books, including the blockbuster franchises “Twilight” and “The Hunger Games.” Before her writing career took off, however, she decided to teach because people kept telling her “you won't make any money trying to publish a novel.” She ended up teaching 10th grade World Literature in Clermont County, N.C., which she describes as “an incredibly rural place.” One thing she kept noticing with her students is “how teenagers feel trapped and contained.” She decided to translate that into science fiction with her debut novel, “Across the Universe,” named after the famous Beatles song. She doesn't want the genre label, however, to intimidate readers. “It definitely leans more toward fiction rather than science,” she said. Always intended as part of a trilogy, the book tells the story of a girl from Earth that is cryogenically frozen for a centuries-long trip across space. When she wakes up early, she finds herself involved in a murder mystery onboard a spaceship. The sequel, “A Million Suns,” was published in January 2012, and the last “Shades of Earth” came out last month. Although she doesn't like to get preachy with her novels, it is important to her to write “female characters that are strong and empowered.” That's her intention with Amy, the protagonist of the “Across the Universe” series. “I want to show girls,” she said, “that there's more to life than some pretty guy.” This is a common message for YA novels, considering most of the authors are women. The “Breathless Reads” tour, for example, includes Fiona Paul (“Venom”), Morgan Rhodes (“Falling Kingdoms”), Elizabeth Richards (“Black City”), and Jess Spotswood (“Born Wicked”). Organized by Fiction Addiction, this third annual tour showcases an interactive panel format that allows fans a chance to interact with the authors, have books signed, and get exclusive event posters. The authors will also visit a local school for a private event during the day. Revis, who has been to the HubCity Bookshop once before while on tour, says she “loves to travel and is excited to be back in the Upstate!”